Plum Jelly with Elderflower Chantilly

A delightful Plum Jelly with Elderflower Chantilly, perfect for summer nights.

plum jelly with elderflower chantilly in glasses

I have a soft spot for jellies and make them more often than my husband would like. In fact, he only recently confessed that he was not so fond of this wibbly wobbly dessert. In his family, they often make fun of British desserts and I recall someone once receiving a packet of jelly crystals at Christmas as a joke. I didn’t get the joke, of course, and the jelly crystals looked far more enticing than the bar of soap I received that year.

Such is my love for jellies that I have even amassed a small collection of jelly moulds over the years, both in metal and plastic (Tupperware make great jelly moulds), and I love nothing more than turning out a giant wobbly dessert onto a cake stand after dinner.

One of the first recipes which caught my eye from Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook was this Plum Jelly with Elderflower Chantilly. This particular jelly is made by cooking down fresh plums to extract their sweetness and vibrant magenta colour. This jelly is a sweet treat, but you could certainly adjust the sugar content, depending on the sweetness of your plums. In any event, the sweetness of any jelly is often balanced by a touch of whipped cream. Here, Rachel Khoo lends a twist by fragrancing the cream with some elderflower cordial. And for some contrast in colour and texture, the jellies are topped with some crystallised basil leaves which also adds a lovely freshness.

plum jelly with elderflower chantilly and crystallised basil leaves

I loved that Rachel Khoo had made the jelly in one of those large, old-fashioned jelly moulds, which looked so elegant once turned out and decorated with quenelles of whipped cream. On this occasion, I chose to make the jellies in individual portions; this has the advantage of both looking elegant and being easier to serve. When making jellies in small portions, you can reduce the number of gelatine leaves to create a more soft-set jelly, but I stuck to the original recipe in this instance and found the texture to be pleasant with not too much bounce.

Jellies are a great dessert to make when you have friends coming around for dinner, especially since they can be made a day or two in advance. This particular recipe is alcohol-free, making it kiddie-friendly and an inexpensive dessert. And it’s a double treat for me because I get to eat my husband’s portion 🙂

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Plum Jelly with Elderflower Chantilly

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5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: eatlittlebird.com
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Yield: 6

Ingredients

For the Plum Jelly

  • 2kg (4 1/2 lb) red or purple plums
  • 750ml (3 cups) water
  • 650g (3 cups) caster sugar
  • 12 gelatin leaves

For the Elderflower Chantilly

  • 500ml (2 cups) double cream
  • 75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
  • 3 tablespoons elderflower cordial, or to taste

For the Crystallised Basil Leaves

  • Fresh basil leaves (preferably small leaves)
  • 1 egg white
  • caster sugar

Instructions

To make the Plum Jelly

  1. Halve the plums, leaving the stones intact, and place them in a large pan with the water and sugar.
  2. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until the plums have broken down to a mush.
  3. Place a fine sieve over a large bowl and press the mixture through the sieve, reserving the syrup.
  4. Soak 12 gelatin leaves in a shallow bowl with some cold water. When they have softened, squeeze the excess water from the gelatin leaves.
  5. Whisk the gelatin leaves into the warm plum syrup.
  6. Pour the mixture into 6 small glass bowls, leave to cool completely, and then leave to set in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
  7. Serve with a dollop of elderflower chantilly cream and decorate with crystallised basil leaves.

To make the Elderflower Cordial

  1. Whip the cream with the caster sugar until you have soft peaks.
  2. Fold through the elderflower cordial.

To make the Crystallised Basil Leaves

  1. Lightly whisk the egg white in a small bowl.
  2. Using a clean paintbrush or pastry brush, coat a basil leaf with some egg white and generously sprinkle caster sugar onto the leage.
  3. Place the leaf onto a clean plate and leave to cool in a dark place. This will take about 15 minutes.
  4. Repeat with the remaining basil leaves.

Kitchen Notes

To make one large jelly, lightly grease a 1.5 litre jelly mould with a flavourless oil before pouring the mixture into the mould. The jelly will need to rest in the fridge for about 12 hours to properly set. To unmould the jelly, dip the mould quickly into large bowl or sink filled with hot water to help loosen the sides.

The chantilly cream can be kept in the fridge for a few days.

The crystallised basil leaves should be used within a few hours.

The leftover plum mixture (squeezed of its juices for the jelly) is delicious served with any leftover elderflower chantilly to make a plum fool, or even served with plain yoghurt at breakfast.

OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.

CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: Serves 6
  • Calories: 576
  • Sugar: 141.2g
  • Sodium: 8.1mg
  • Fat: 0.9g
  • Carbohydrates: 146.4g
  • Fiber: 4.7g
  • Protein: 3.3g
  • Cholesterol: 0mg

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6 comments

  1. Paula 21 May 2015

    Oh, Thanh!

    Let’s see…. I like the crystallised basil and I’ll do.
    And, about the jelly…
    [Awkward silence…]
    Yes, in my family, gelatine is not very appreciated. But my boyf loves, so it happens like at your home, so you’re not alone 😛

    I prepare jelly for my boyf, but also because I like panna cotta, you can make a thousand flavors, and is a quick test to try ice cream flavours.

    Anyway, once I made a Nigella jelly that I’m sure you know, gin and tonic jelly, remember? But I used violet vodka, and it was a kitsch essert, but it was funny and delicious 😛

    Have a nice end of week, Thanh!

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 21 May 2015

      Ooh I love Nigella’s jelly recipes! I think I have tried all of them and love them all 🙂 I think my favourite is the Slut-Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly. I also love pannacotta, although I haven’t made them recently. Thanks for reminding me!

      Reply
  2. sonia 21 May 2015

    Hello Thanh!
    I want to congratulate for your blog I love it! I wish I could have a blog like yours and so beautifull pictures!!
    I recently start a blog but i’m really far far away of getting good shots… I wonder in what programe you create your pictures with the recipes… Is it on photoshop?

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 21 May 2015

      Hi Sonia,
      Thank you for your lovely words! Yes, I use Photoshop to create my recipe photos. Good luck with your blog! I look forward to reading more from you on your blog.

      Reply
  3. Madeleine 25 March 2018

    This plum jelly is delicious! We served it with vanilla ice-cream instead of the elderflower chantilly and it was perfect 🙂






    Reply
  4. Julia 13 April 2018

    LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! What could be better? It looks incredible! Thank you!






    Reply